Kanto Companions
by PattyHayesJr
Summary: The story is based on the games Red and Blue, with some extra characterization from the anime, the story is about a trainer named Red on his quest to become a pokemon master, or so he hopes.
1. Chapter 1

-=1=-

Light filtered in through the sheets on his bed, there was a low grumble that erupted from his stomach. He had to get up eventually, unfortunately, the time was now.

Mornings were never Red's favorites, he would rather sleep until noon, but today was very special, today he would start his travels as a pokémon trainer! Red sat up in bed and rubbed at his eyes. He looked around at his surroundings and groaned, his beige colored walls only reminded him of why he was leaving in the first place. Winning in gym battles meant he would get money. Hopefully he would earn enough money to help get his mom out of this old and small house, but for now, it was a chance at freedom, to get away from his problems, and hopefully relieve his mom from part of the burden. Red smirked, today was the day.

"Well, Red it looks like you're going to have to get up eventually… Just take that first step, everything gets easier." Red sighed and placed one foot on his uncarpeted floor, wincing from the cold chill of the floor. He slowly rose, and put his other foot on the floor. Groaning like the average teenage boy in the morning, he made his way over to the set of clothes and the backpack he set out the night before. He had saved up for all of this over the years, and was now ready to take on the world as a pokémon trainer.

The clothing was basic, but sturdy, consisting of a black shirt and blue jeans, a red vest covered his shirt. He pulled up his black ankle-length socks and tied his red and black sneakers. He fitted his red cap with a white brim over his unkempt black hair, and attached his watch to his wrist. Red turned to his book case, a small folded up piece of paper sat on the top shelf. Red took it and fitted it into his back pocket. He grabbed his yellow backpack, and slung it over one shoulder. While leaving his room, he turned back, and looked regretfully to his bed, but today was a big day, he had to be ready.

Red came down the stairs that separated his room from the rest of the house. His mother was in the kitchen as usual, he could see her cooking something on the stove, her back was to him. Red tried to act sneaky as he quietly mad his way towards his mom, but the floor squeaked and she turned to acknowledge him. "Morning hon!" His mom said cheerfully; glad to see Red awake before noon today.

"Morning mom!" Red said cheerfully. He had grabbed a pecha berry and snacked on it. "What's for breakfast?" Red's mom laughed. "Who says you can have breakfast? You need to get to professor Oak's right away!" Red's mom said and she started to push Red out the door, but not before he grabbed another pecha berry to take with him. "Good-bye mom!" Red called from down the road.

"Good-bye son! Make mommy proud!" Red's mom called out to the waving teenager. Red turned around, and munched on his berry while walking briskly to the elderly professor's house. He took the turn in the path, and saw several pokémon scurry across the fields next to the professor's home and laboratory. He came to the door, a big and heavy thing, and reached for the handle, when the door promptly swung out and smashed Red in the face. Red fell to the ground; he looked up to the trainer standing over him. A boy of about fifteen with spikey blonde hair and cold blue eyes looked at him. "Watch where you're going." The person said in a cold and harsh tone.

Red's fiery and excited green eyed gaze matched the stranger's cold blue gaze for a moment, then Red had to drop it. The stranger smirked and walked away. Red could only stare at the rude stranger before he shook his head and laughed. The laughter caught the stranger off guard, who turned towards him and shook his head. "…pathetic…" was all that Red could make out from the stranger's muttering.

Red sighed; he pulled himself up off the ground and dusted himself off. He opened the door to the lab, this time being prepared for anything. When he came inside he smiled, at the end of the room, next to all of the important looking computer monitors and expensive machines, stood an elderly professor, and next to him, on a table sat a blue turtle pokémon, and a seed pokémon.

"Good morning professor!" Red said, as he came further into the room, he didn't notice the other person who entered right behind him. "Ah… Good morning, Red!" The professor said, and peered over Red's shoulder. "Ah… And Leaf! I'm glad Daisy finally woke you up!" Red turned around and looked at the other trainer. She wore a short-brimmed sunhat over her long and flowing purple hair. Her clothing included a light blue tank-top and short red skirt. On her feet were sneakers similar to Red's, except with white instead of the black. Around her shins she wore light blue leg warmers about the same color as her shirt. Red's gaze met her eyes, she also had blue eyes, except not cold like the stranger's, these eyes were filled with energy, warmth and life. "Well, hello!" the girl named Leaf said and extended her hand out to Red. Red grinned and shook it warmly. "Nice to meet you!" Red said.

"Red, Leaf here is my grand-daughter." Professor Oak said, breaking the uncomfortable silence. Red immediately recoiled his hand and chuckled nervously. Leaf only giggled and a slight blush crept across her cheeks. Professor Oak cleared his throat. "As I was saying, I have your pokémon here for you; unfortunately, I only have two to give each of you." Red and Leaf approached the table tentatively. The two pokémon looked at the trainers curiously.

"This is Squirtle, the water pokémon." Oak said as he pointed to the small blue turtle. "Oooh! I want this one!" Leaf said and she hugged the cute turtle pokémon immediately. The Squirtle laughed too, and embraced her new trainer. Red and Bulbasaur looked at them curiously and Red looked back at the seed pokémon. "I suppose that means I get to have you then, isn't that right, Bulbasaur?" Red asked, and extended his hand out towards the seed pokémon. The pokémon leaned forward as if to sniff the hand, and bit down on his fingers. "Ouch!" Red exclaimed and Bulbasaur started to laugh uncontrollably. "I'm glad somebody thought that was funny!" Red said and he looked at the pokémon again. "You know, one way or another, you're coming with me."

The Bulbasaur stopped its laughing and looked perplexed by Red. Out came its vines, _probably for a vine-whip attack_ Red thought. Instead however, the pokémon wrapped Red up in his vines and gave him a big hug. "I think Bulbasaur likes you, what do you think Red?" Oak asked the new trainer.

"Oh, I think we're going to get along just fine." Red said and took the pokéball off the table. He attempted to recall the seed pokémon; the red line of light hit the pokémon and absorbed it into the pokéball. Red looked to the professor and the other young trainer, they were speaking quietly amongst each other. Oak gave Leaf a pink device and Leaf squealed in excitement as she hugged her grandfather she gave him a kiss on the cheek and ran for the door to start her journey. Oak looked after his grand-daughter and smiled. He turned towards Red and held out a red device for Red. "Here, take this, it's a Pokédex, it's used to scan pokémon that you catch to tell you a little more about them, you can learn its moves, and if you type in a pokémon's name, you can learn a little more about it. It will be a very helpful guide on your journey!" Oak said. "Now, you should probably get a move on!" With that, Oak pushed Red towards the door.

"Okay, okay. I get the hint professor." Red said, and opened the door, he smelled the fresh air, and started off on his adventure. As he opened the gate to leave Oak's ranch, Bulbasaur came out of his pokéball. "Hey there, buddy, what's up?" Red asked, and Bulbasaur nuzzled his leg. "You want to walk with me for a little while?" Bulbasaur nodded and started trotting up the road. "Wait up!" Red called to his pokémon and he chased after it.

Bulbasaur finally stopped in front of a large sign, Red finally caught up to him and read the sign. "Route One, well Bulbasaur, our journey starts here. Are you ready?" Bulbasaur looked up to his trainer; a determined look crossed his face and nodded. "Good, let's do this!" Red shouted and threw a fist into the air. Bulbasaur looked at his trainer, an amused look on his face now.

Red and Bulbasaur started north, along Route One. On the road, a small purple and white mouse pokémon sat scratching an itch. "Bulbasaur, let's try and catch that pokémon!" Red said, and Bulbasaur took a battle position in front of the pokémon.

"Rattata?" The mouse pokémon said curiously. "Bulbasaur, use tackle!" Red ordered, and Bulbasaur charged forward, and tackled the Rattata. The mouse pokémon spun around and ran away. "Bulbasaur, use your razor leaf!" Red ordered. Bulbasaur looked back at him confused and Red face-palmed. "You don't know that one, eh?" Red asked and Bulbasaur shook his head. Red sat down on the side of the road. "Well, let's see if we can find out what moves you do know." Red said, and pulled out his Pokédex, pointed it at Bulbasaur and pressed a button the mechanical voice started up: _"Bulbasaur, the seed pokémon; There is a plant seed on its back right from the day this Pokémon is born. The seed slowly grows larger. This Bulbasaur's known moves are; tackle, leech seed, poison powder, and vine whip."_

"Huh… What do you think Bulbasaur?" Red asked and the pokémon gave what looked like a shrug. "You're not much of a talker, are you?" Bulbasaur shook his head. "Is there any specific reason?" Red asked. Bulbasaur nodded its head, then dropped its gaze and scuffed the ground with his foot. "Hey, listen, it's okay Bulbasaur, you're still my friend, don't worry about it, I know you'll let me know when you're ready." Bulbasaur looked up at him; with tears in its eyes he leaped forwards and tackled into his trainer. "Well, yes, I'm happy too!" Red said and looked at the pokémon. "Come on, let's continue, we need to get going." Red stood up and they continued their walk.

"Well, well, well. If it isn't the trainer who got in my way this morning." Red heard a voice and spun on his heel, where he saw the same trainer that hit him in the face with the door, he wore all black clothing, and his blonde hair was cut short. "Now, in return for getting in my way, you need to battle me." The trainer said, and called out his pokémon. In front of Red stood a short orange lizard pokémon. "Charmander, destroy his pokémon."

"Bulbasaur, let's get him!" Red said and the two pokémon looked at their opponents. "Ladies first." The blond trainer said.

"Bulbasaur, use poison powder!" Red ordered, and the violet powder swept out from the bulb on his back towards Charmander.

"Charmander, counter with ember." The lizard pokémon fired its ember attack that breezed through the powder, blowing a large hole in the center, Charmander jumped through it and fired again, hitting Bulbasaur head on.

"Bulbasaur, are you okay?" Red asked, and Bulbasaur nodded its head. "Okay, now try leech seed!" Bulbasaur fired off a seed towards the lizard.

"Block it with scratch and finish this with ember." The trainer ordered. The Charmander's claw slammed the seed back at Bulbasaur, wrapping it up in the vines. Charmander then fired another ember attack at Bulbasaur who cried out in pain. "Bulbasaur!" Red called to his pokémon. "Stop it! Can't you see it's hurting?" Red shouted at the trainer.

"Fine." The trainer said, he recalled his Charmander and turned around and walked away without a word. Red dropped to his knees next to Bulbasaur and pulled the vines from him. "Bulbasaur, are you okay?" The pokémon's eyes were closed and it was breathing shallowly. "Come on buddy, I'll get you to a Pokémon Center as soon as possible." Red picked up the seed pokémon and started jogging north towards the city of Viridian.

Red ran for about a half an hour, and then he tripped, tumbling forward he released his grasp on Bulbasaur who rolled forward a few feet. Red lifted his head, and the sun got in his eyes. He was dumbfounded as to why the sun was slowly being blocked from his vision. Red shook his head, and a dark shadow stood over him. "Hello?" Red asked as he looked at the dark figure. The figure made no effort to speak, and it squatted down next to Bulbasaur. "Hey! You leave him alone!" Red shouted, and he jumped up, ready to fight this stranger. However, the stranger merely waved him away and sprayed a clear liquid over Bulbasaur who groaned in his sleep. "Stop! You're hurting him!" Red said, and he tackled the stranger to the ground. They rolled around for a moment until the stranger pinned him to the ground. "You know, it's really bad form for you to attack the person that's trying to help your pokémon." The stranger said, and he let Red go. Red stood up and finally got a good look at his opponent. He wore no hat over his shock of flaming red hair, but had a pencil behind his ear. He wore a light green checkered collar shirt with the sleeves rolled halfway up, and a forest green sweater vest. He wore tan cargo pants and brown hiking shoes. Red grinned at his pokémon's hero, "Thank you, very much, I'm sorry I attacked you." Red said to the stranger. "Not to worry! It's only natural you're worried for your pokémon, he looked pretty beat up. My name's Reggie." The man extended his hand towards Red who shook it warmly. "I'm Red."

"Well, Red, you're in luck I found you, we can get your pokémon to the pokémon center in the city and get it some help." Red could only gape, not even a minute of knowing one another, and the stranger was already offering help. "Thank you, so much, but why are you helping me?" Red asked, he had picked up Bulbasaur and they started walking north again. "Well, it's my job, I'm a pokémon professor." Red's jaw dropped. "You're a pokémon professor?" He asked incredulously. "You can't be but a few years older than me!"

Reggie looked embarrassed. "Well, you see. I'm only in training; I work with Professor Elm over in the Johto region."

"If you work in the Johto region…" Red began as they started walking towards the city; he still carried Bulbasaur in his arms. "What are you doing over here in Kanto?"

"Well, I wanted to attempt the Indigo League!" Reggie said and he opened a small badge case, revealing eight colorful badges. "I'm all ready to compete, but the tournament isn't for a few months, so I'm waiting, training with my pokémon." Reggie said, and he started to feel uncomfortable while Red gaped at him, and his badges. "You have that many badges already?" Red asked.

"Well, it did take me a little while… but yes, of course!" Reggie said to his new companion. "What about you? How many do you have?"

Red looked at Reggie a bit sheepishly at this point. "Well, none at the moment, I just started my adventure."

Reggie laughed. "Not to worry, you'll do fine! Now, we need to hurry up a little bit, Bulbasaur does need to get to the pokémon center." Red and Reggie started to hurry up a little bit, and they soon came to the city, Red's jaw dropped as he saw all of the people living in one place. Reggie had to nudge him a little bit towards the pokémon center, but eventually Red got the hint and recalled his Bulbasaur as they entered the red roofed building. Inside, a smiling nurse took Bulbasaur's pokéball and went in the back room while Reggie led Red towards the cafeteria. "Let's have a little bit of dinner on me, I want to discuss something with you." Reggie said. They picked up a couple of sandwiches and drinks. "So, Red. I have a proposition for you." Reggie said again as they sat down in the corner of the cafeteria.

"What's that, Reggie?" Red asked, and took a bite out of his sandwich.

"I want to help you with your pokémon." Reggie said, he was still smiling. "I want to help you become strong, with my help, I'm sure I could teach your pokémon a few moves to help you."

Red looked at him skeptically. "Now why on earth would you want to do that, Reggie? Shouldn't we be rivals instead?"

Reggie smiled again and shook his head. "You remind me so much of myself… to answer your question, no I'm not worried if I lose my chance of a shot as pokémon league champion to you, I only wanted to have an adventure before I went back to the professor to finish my studies." Reggie said, and Red started to grin as well.

"Well, when you make a convincing argument like that…" Red was cut short as the smiling nurse came back with Bulbasaur's pokéball. "Here you are sir, is there anything else you need?" The smiling nurse asked. "Ah, yes please, we need a room for the night." Reggie said, and flashed the nurse a quick and confident smile. "Of course you may! Just meet me at the front desk and we'll get you all set." Reggie winked at the nurse who blushed and giggled. The nurse turned away, and Reggie looked at Red, who had stopped mid bite. "Did you just flirt with that nurse?" Red asked.

Reggie looked sheepish, and rubbed the back of his head. "Well… maybe. But you have to admit, she was cute." Red sighed, was this guy really going to be his tutor?

"So, where shall we begin?" Reggie asked his pupil. Red shook his head. "Let's just get our room; I've had a long day."

Reggie nodded his head knowingly. "So, let's go find that nurse!" Red face-palmed and got up to follow his energetic mentor who was already at the door to the lobby.

When Red came to the door, he could see that his mentor was already at the front desk laughing with the nurse. Red shook his head as he came over to them. Reggie immediately became serious and requested a room key… and the nurse's number.

Red could only laugh when the nurse looked at him terrified, she called security, and a large bulky man came out of nowhere next to the nurse. "Is there a problem?" Reggie could only gulp and shake his head. "Good, now stop harassing the young lady, or things will not get pretty, if you catch my meaning." The security guard cracked his knuckles and Reggie paled. Red took the key from the nurse and gave her a reassuring smile. "I'll be sure to keep him on a short leash." Red told the nurse, who giggled immediately. Red half-led, and half-dragged Reggie up the stairs and into their room. When they were in the room, Red quickly shut the door, and turned on Reggie.

"Now, what on earth was that?" Red asked his mentor.

"What? I can't have a little bit of fun?" Reggie asked, he collapsed on the couch, and grinned an impish little grin. "I mean, she was cute and all."

Reggie face-palmed and shook his head. "You're going to get us into trouble if you continue this." Red said. Reggie just continued grinning.

"I'll make you a deal," Reggie began. "I won't let my 'fun' get in the way of my teaching, if you don't bother me about it, okay?" Reggie finished with a triumphant smile; Red could only look wild eyed at his mentor. "Fine, deal." Red and Reggie shook hands.

"You know, Red, you need to lighten up, maybe find yourself a girlfriend." Reggie laughed. "I can give you a hand at this if you want."

Red shut the door to his bedroom, listening to Reggie's cackling as he slumped to the floor against the door. "Why? Of all people, why did I agree to this guy?" Red asked himself. The laughing on the other side of the door stopped, and Red was worried he was overheard. A split second later, the laughter resumed, ten times harder. "You should come on out Bulbasaur, and let's look you over." Red said, and released his pokémon. Sitting on front of him was the little blue seed pokémon. "Hey there buddy, how are you feeling?" Red rubbed the pokémon on the top of its head, receiving a contended sigh from his friend. "I wanted to tell you, tomorrow, we're going to go out and try a little training, I met someone who can help us work as a better team." Red said, and Bulbasaur smiled at his trainer.

"So, you approve?" Red asked, hoping for the answer he wanted. Bulbasaur looked at his trainer and smiled widely. "Good, now you should get some rest, we are going to have a very long day tomorrow." Red said and Bulbasaur curled up on Red's bed and went to sleep almost immediately. Red looked around his small room, it wasn't much, but then, Red really didn't need much, did he? Red shook his head and there was a knock on his door. Red opened it, and found his mentor standing there. "Hey there, Red." He looked around. "I was wondering if you'd want to go get some ice cream with me?"

Red shrugged. "Sure, but why the change of heart?"

"I wanted to make up my teasing towards you." Reggie cracked a confident smile. "Besides, we need to figure out a good strategy for your battles with Bulbasaur."

Red nodded, "Well, let's get us going then."

They left the hotel, while the sun was low in the sky; they wandered about for a little while, not really knowing where they were going. Then, they stopped in front of a large building in front of them. "What's this?" Red asked.

Reggie, who was looking at the map, glanced up quickly. "Oh, the Viridian City gym. The leader specializes in earth-type pokémon, it was a tough gym to beat, and I don't recommend it for a novice like you." Reggie smirked as he looked over the map again. "If we go down that way." Reggie was pointing down the street. "And make a left near the market, then we should be at the ice cream shop." Reggie said and started off, Red reluctantly followed, with numerous gazes back towards the gym.

They eventually found their way over to the ice cream shop, and ordered their cones. Red licked at his treat, and Reggie began. "So, Red, our first conquest is going to be the Pewter City Gym, the leader specializes in rock types, so Bulbasaur will be your best bet on defeating the gym." Red nodded, and continued with his ice cream. "However, it is also a two on two battle, so I was trying to decide on how to get you an excellent second pokémon, I was thinking we take a look in the Viridian Forest, it's home to many different pokémon, mainly bugs and flying types, but there are the occasional small rodent pokémon that run around there." Reggie thought for a moment, and took a bite of ice cream from his spoon and took out his map of the area. A large green area sat on the northern end, and Reggie looked at it. "I do know of a few places in here where we could find some unorthodox pokémon." Reggie paused. "But it will be difficult, with a great deal of off the path travelling, if you want to give it a shot, I'm up for it." Reggie said, and leaned back in his chair. Red grinned. "Any chance to make some new… unorthodox friends."

Reggie also grinned. "Then it's settled, we'll start out again tomorrow!"


	2. Chapter 2

**Right, sorry for the delay, school takes its toll, eh? Well, that and the fact that I couldn't find my characterization sheets, now it's all over, and I'm writing this how I originally planned (if that makes any sense to anyone but me… but I digress). Without further ado, here's chapter two (P.s. That rhymed :D I'm a poet and I didn't know it)! **

-=2=-

The two friends squared off against each other, their pokémon were exhausted from a full day of training the day before, but they decided to try for one more battle before heading off into the Viridian Forest to find some new pokémon. Red and Bulbasaur looked on apprehensively, waiting for the more experienced trainer to make his move.

"Bellsprout, let's finish this with razor leaf!" Reggie ordered, and the flower pokémon let loose a barrage of leaves towards Bulbasaur. Red grinned triumphantly. "Bulbasaur, counter with your own razor leaf, and then charge in for a tackle attack!"

Bulbasaur launched his own, newly learned grass attack, and the attacks collided in mid-air. Both attacks cancelled the other out, and Bulbasaur came running in for the tackle.

"Bellsprout, charge up your solar beam!" Reggie ordered, and Bellsprout began drawing in the sun's rays. Bulbasaur was closing the distance quickly, and Red was excited, his pokémon would hit the other before the solar beam was used. Bulbasaur was dangerously close now, and Reggie shrugged. "Give your solar beam a shot, let's see what happens." The flower pokémon let loose the beam of intense white light, and it engulfed Bulbasaur, mid stride. When the light faded away, Bulbasaur lay on the ground, K.O.'d by the attack. Red sighed and went to his pokémon, he was met by Reggie who looked regretfully at the poor seed pokémon, he pulled out his container of liquid, and sprayed Bulbasaur with it.

Bulbasaur let out a contented sigh. "What was that you used?" Red asked Reggie, Reggie held out the bottle to Red to hold. "It's my own special recipe, I've noticed how normal store bought potions sting when used, so I made up an all-natural batch that heals pretty much anything. I used some berries that I found and it works remarkably well. Without any of the stinging, it's great!" Reggie said, and took the bottle back. "Now, recall Bulbasaur, you can let him back out in an hour or so, and he'll be as right as rain." Red did as he was told, and sighed regretfully, his friend wasn't with him anymore, and it didn't feel right.

"Now, Red, let's head off, we should reach the forest by sundown, and from there, we can find you some pokémon." Reggie said as he recalled his own pokémon. Red nodded and they started off on their journey. Travel was slow, Red and Reggie stopped frequently to watch the pokémon in their natural habitats, Red couldn't understand how he was supposed to catch these majestic creatures and take them from their habitats.

"So, Red, want to catch one of these? I see a Rattata a little ways ahead." Reggie said, and Red nodded, he took an empty pokéball from his belt, and slowly snuck up on the pokémon who was snacking on a fist sized blue berry. Red sighed regretfully, and threw the pokéball. The ball quivered on the ground and finally stopped.

"Remarkable…" Reggie said from behind Red, startling him a bit. Red turned towards Reggie and gave him a smile. "Normally, people have to weaken a pokémon before they're able to catch it. The Rattata must have been very weak." Reggie frowned and Red drooped his head. "However! I can help you train him to become a great Rattata! Later this evening, I shall show you!" Reggie exclaimed, and Red smiled. "Oh good, I'm glad to hear it."

They continued on their way, and saw the numerous groups of Rattata scurrying through the grass. Pidgeys flew through the air in formation, and Red looked west towards the mountain range, the highest peak, he saw the storms swirling around it. "Reggie?" Red asked, and Reggie brought his head out of his map and looked at Red. "Yes, Red?" Red looked at the mountain again, and pointed. Reggie turned his head towards the mountain.

"What's the name of that mountain?" Red asked. Reggie looked for a moment. "It's Mount Silver, the Johto Silver Conference is held at the base, it's also said that the top has never been climbed, and boy do I believe it." Reggie said, and put his bead back down towards the map. Red sighed, and silently promised himself he would reach the top one day.

They continued on for about an hour, nothing of worth was occurring; there were no other people, and no other pokémon. Red sighed, it was quite boring outside, and then his stomach started growling. Reggie looked up from his map again and smiled. "Shall we stop for lunch then?" Red nodded quickly, and they stopped at the side of the road. Reggie set up a small area for lunch. "Hey, let out your pokémon, let's let them stretch their legs." Reggie smiled and clambered up a tree.

"Reggie, what are you doing up there?" Red called up as he released his two pokémon. Reggie appeared out of the tallest branch with a pair of binoculars in his hand. "And where did you get those binoculars" Red shouted. Reggie waved him off and looked north.

Red pulled out his two pokéballs and released his pokémon from them. Bulbasaur looked over the new addition in his team and smiled. He then proceeded to playfully tackle Rattata and they wrestled around while he turned around towards Reggie.

"So, Reggie do you want to let out your own pokémon?" Red called up. Three pokéballs flew from the tree and released his pokémon. One was known to him, the Bellsprout. But the other two were very foreign to him. A skull faced pokémon looked at him, holding its club very menacingly. The other, a large human-like pokémon, he was colored yellow and had a large bushy mustache that went down to his waist.

"Reggie? Who are these pokémon?" Red asked, and finally Reggie dropped from the tree. The binoculars were returned to the small belt pack around his waist. Reggie looked at his pokémon. "Well, you know Bellsprout, of course. Cubone is the skull headed one, and he's also my first pokémon." Reggie said, and Cubone struck a pose. "Kadabra was my first catch ever, and is arguably my strongest pokémon." Reggie said and Kadabra gave him a curt nod.

"That's amazing!" Red said. "Are these the only three you have though?"

Reggie shook his head. "All of my others are with Professor Elm, who's helping them train for the Indigo League."

"How many others do you have?" Red asked, truly in awe of Reggie's prowess.

Reggie thought a moment. "I have four others I'll be using for the Indigo League." Reggie said, and smirked. "In all, I have ten total, besides these three of course!"

Red dove into his pack for a snack, and pulled out a few small berries. He tossed some to his pokémon and began to snack on some himself. "So, Reggie, what were you looking for?" Red asked curiously.

Reggie who was looking over his pokémon while they were eating looked up. "I was looking for the official entrance to the Viridian Forest. In about an hour we should be there!" Reggie exclaimed.

Red repacked his pack and jumped to his feet. "Then what are we doing here? If it's only an hour away, let's get going!"

Leaf struggled through the foliage of the Viridian Forest. She had strayed off the path to catch an Oddish and now she was lost with no Oddish in her possession. She was disheveled and dirty, she definitely needed a shower. If only she could find the road! Then she suddenly tripped on a tree root.

She looked up at the tree and punched it, recoiling in pain. She looked over her hand and frowned, just a scrape. Leaf sat up next to the tree and opened her backpack, she took out a pouch of trail mix and sat down to a meager lunch.

Leaf let out her Squirtle. "Squirtle, squirt!" The small blue turtle pokémon said, and sat down across from her trainer, waiting for some food. Leaf sighed and took out her last little bit of pokémon food, she handed it over to Squirtle who promptly began eating.

"Squirtle? What are we going to do? There's no food left." Leaf sighed again, and buried her face into her hands.

Squirtle came over to her and patted her trainer's back as if to say it was all going to be okay.


	3. Chapter 3

**Yeah, I'm working on posting more and I feel my last chapter was pretty weak. Well, there's more action in this one! I'm so excited, I get to introduce one of my favorite pokémon now!**

-=3=-

Red and Reggie stood at the entrance of the forest.

"Well, here we are, eh Red?" Reggie asked, a slow smile touched his lips.

"Yeah, I suppose we're here." Red looked around, his Bulbasaur was learning great moves thanks to Reggie, and fully powering up all of the other moves that it already knew.

"I've had some good times in this forest, you know? This is where I met my Pinsir."

"You have a Pinsir?" Red exclaimed, now even more excited about going into the forest. "I wonder what Pokémon we'll find this time!" Red became visibly excited. "It will be my first real Pokémon battle!"

"Well, what are we waiting for Red? Let's go!"

They stepped into the forest, and the scenery darkened around them. The trees were still, and the forest was oddly… quiet.

"Where are all of the Pokémon?" Red asked.

"There's something wrong here." Reggie looked around, worried. "Mind if we take a look around?"

"I wouldn't have it any other way." Red smirked "Should we split up?"

"No, that would end very badly, we might get lost. Let's go this way." Reggie said, gesturing towards the right. They went in the direction that Reggie pointed out, and came upon a strange sight.

Sitting in a large cage, was a Growlithe, the Growlithe wasn't in good shape, it looked beaten, and very weak. When Red walked nearer, the small dog Pokémon fired an ember attack at him. Red backed up cautiously, and decided to try a different approach.

"Hey there Growlithe, how did you find yourself in that cage?" Red asked softly. Reggie stood in the background, outraged by the scene. The Pokémon growled at Red.

"I see, you know? I can help you get out of that cage." The Growlithe growled again, but it had less heat in it this time.

"I know you would want to get out of there, so, what do you say?" The Pokémon wagged its tail, and agreed in its Pokémon speak.

"Alright, I'll try my best to do this." Red went over to the lock on the cage and tried to undo it. "Hey, Reggie, could you help me?" Reggie started towards the lock, but the Growlithe growled at him.

"Ah, no. I don't think I can Red, you'll have to be on your own." Reggie slowly backed up from the cage.

"I have an idea Growlithe." The Pokémon twitched its ears tentatively. "I don't want to have to do this, but I could catch you, and release you outside of the bars. The Pokémon growled even fiercer at the thought, and started to tackle the bars in the cage. Red teared up at the Growlithe.

"Please Growlithe, let me help you." Red pleaded. The Growlithe looked at the trainer curiously, thinking hard about what could happen, and in the end accepted. Red held out the Poké Ball towards the Pokémon, and Growlithe placed its nose against it. The ball transferred the energy of Growlithe into the ball. Red promptly turned around and released the Growlithe back into the wild. The Growlithe sniffed the air, looked around, and then turned towards Red. The Pokémon jumped into Red's arms and promptly licked him on the face.

"Well now, you're very welcome!" Red said, as the Pokémon brought him to the ground. The Poké Ball fell to the ground and Growlithe stopped the 'attack' and went over to it. The Growlithe sniffed it, and pressed the button, where it was sucked into the ball again.

Reggie laughed "It looks like Growlithe wants to come with us." Then he looked around again and cleared his throat. "We should probably get out of here Red, somebody may come back."

"You think so?" Red asked, and if they were listening, a duo stepped from the bushes, laughing with two sacks squirming on their backs. The shorter of the two dropped his sack and fumbled at his belt for a pokéball. The sack tore open and a multitude of pokémon scurried and flew from it. The taller one held onto his sack, threw a pokéball, and smacked the shorter one in the head in one quick and swift motion. "You idiot, you let the pokémon loose. Now the boss is going to kill us."

The shorter one tried to stammer out an answer. "B…b…bu…but m…m…maybe if we c…c…catch their pokémon, the boss will forgive us…" The two pokémon faced off against Red and Reggie. A large purple snake pokémon, and a small blue humanoid pokémon took battle positions. Red look at Reggie who flashed him a smile and threw out his pokéball. Cubone burst out in a flash, and brandished his club. Reggie nudged Red and he picked a pokéball from his belt randomly. Out came his Rattata who growled fiercely at his opponents.

Red groaned. "I don't know his moves." He flipped open his Pokédex and looked quickly. These moves would have to do for the moment. "Rattata! Use quick attack on the Ekans!" Red ordered, and Rattata sprinted forward and crashed into the snake pokémon.

Reggie smirked and ordered an ice beam attack to hit Machop. The ice beam hit straight on and the Machop crumpled under the attack. Cubone held back for a moment and let Rattata fight on his own. The snake wrapped itself around Rattata and squeezed hard. "Rattata, are you okay?" Red asked. The rodent let out a shrill cry as it was squeezed harder. "Cubone, use headbutt on the Ekans, and help Rattata out." Reggie finally said and the skulled pokémon slammed into the snake at full speed. Ekans released Rattata, who slammed its tail into Ekans' face. "Alright, finish this up with fire blast." Reggie said, and a five pronged fire attack burned the pokémon to a crisp.

"Who are you?" Red demanded of the strangers.

"Who we are is of no importance. However, know this! We are Team Rocket, and you will fear us!" The taller one said, and threw his sack at Reggie. Red looked towards his friend who crumpled under the weight. There was a tearing sound, and numerous pokémon ran from their prison. When Red looked to where the rockets where, there was nobody to be found. He sighed and fell to his knees. Rattata giving him some much needed comfort. Reggie however took action and sprinted off towards where the rockets left. Cubone settled itself on a log holding its club at the ready.

Reggie burst through the brush, trailing him was his Kadabra, they looked angry. "Come on Red, let's get out of here and set up a camp." Reggie said, and silently led Red away from the clearing.

Leaf jumped at the howling that followed her. These were foreign pokémon and she couldn't remember what they were exactly. She kept her westward direction and crested a hill, she could see the surrounding area from there. She scanned the valleys below her for some landmarks but found none. That is until she felt something land on her shoulder.

Leaf jumped and swatted the creature from her shoulder and turned to face it. Beyond the green caterpillar she noticed a fire flare up and smiled. Tossing a pokéball at the Caterpie she made her way towards the fire.

"Excellent job, Growlithe!" Reggie praised the small dog pokémon and scratched behind his ears. "You'll be in charge of the fires from now on!"

Growlithe barked it's agreement and curled up next to his handiwork. Reggie was boiling a pot of water and broke of a block of ramen from his little pouch. He chose a few berries from Red's bag for spices and added them to the now boiling water.

The scent of something simmering over the fire was overwhelming, Leaf couldn't believe how hungry she was, spending the night in the cold forest was a terrifying experience. One that Leaf hoped she wouldn't have to go through again tonight. At least not alone this time. She tripped over something and stumbled a bit. Leaf stopped to look at what it was in the fading daylight. It was a small yellow cocoon.

"Uh, oh…" Leaf said, and was accompanied by the sound of angry buzzing. Swooping down from the trees were several large Beedrill. They fired poison stings at Leaf, who bolted from that area as quick as possible.

"Do you hear something?" Red asked Reggie. He was standing next to his tent with Bulbasaur at his feet. Rattata was already inside snuggled up under Red's blankets. Reggie stood up, and pulled a pokéball from his belt. He let loose Kadabra who gazed into the darkness. The noise got louder and louder, until a girl broke through the tree line and made for the fire. "Beedrill!" she shouted, and Growlithe was roused from his sleep barking. The girl wasn't right and right after the girl came a dozen Beedrill. "Red, take them down!" Reggie called out, and Bulbasaur fired off a barrage of leaves at the pokémon. Growlithe followed suit and attacked with ember. Kadabra focused and fired a psybeam with immense accuracy at the closest Beedrill. The battle ended quickly, and Red took this opportunity to toss a pokéball at one of the weakened Beedrill. The ball shook violently and finally stopped ensuring that Red had captured the pokémon. Grinning like a fool, Red looked to Reggie who gave him a thumbs up and smiled. Red then looked towards the girl who had entered their campsite. She had collapsed. "Reggie! She needs help!" Red called to his friend, who looked back and ran to the girl.

Leaf slowly faded into unconsciousness. It was funny she thought she heard Red's voice through the fog. And another strange voice conversing with him.

"_Will she be alright?"_

"_I don't know what… Ah... I see now."_

"_What?"_

"_She was poisoned."_

"_Will she be okay?"_

"_Of course, a little rest, some food. She'll be right as rain."_

That sounded good. Then everything went black.

**Anyone want to hazard a guess as to my favorite pokémon in this chapter? If you guess it right I'll let you have an OC in the story! If I like them enough, I might make them a large supporting force, or a rival. Who knows? Anyways, please review more.**


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